I've got some property that is almost all 14-15 year old thinned pines. The rows between the pines must be 10 yards wide if not more, easily accessible to a tractor. I notice that practically all of the greenery on the forest floor is eaten at this time of year and I was wondering, besides clearing logging roads for food plots, what could I do to improve the habitat?

Would bush hogging in between the pine lanes help the natural browse flourish? I have a heavy duty bush hog that can handle most of the crappy volunteer hardwoods that have popped up in between the rows too, would it help to take them out? I am afraid of eliminating the natural cover that has sprung up between the pines, but if I can increase the food amount by bush hogging I'll do it.

Another question I had was about the possible clearing of logging roads. Currently, the main skidder roads are grown up in sage grass, briars, and ragweed in the summer. Any benefit to clearing/bush hogging those roads for food plots or would the cover/browse offered by the grass and briars be more beneficial?

Any other suggestions for habitat improvement? Fire is not an option at this point.

would recommend planting green fields between the pines have killed good deer there dont get to carried away though just small plots

I was going to suggest a prescribed burn, but see that is not an option.

Why it is not an option?


God Bless,
David B.

Well, I guess it could be. I would really prefer to do the work myself as I have a tractor and all of the basic tools.

I also share the land with a turkey hunter, how would a burn impact them?

Turkeys can and have been scratching in the burn the next day. A lot of turkey hunters have hunted burns the following days and had great success. Although, hunting a pine stand with nothing between the birds and hunter besides black soot is challenging.

God Bless,
David B.

However,

In my opinion, if the nesting area is the pines, and you clear it all up, birds (hens) will leave. A hen has to have a place to nest, and will go to a safe place to do so.

The burning we have done, has hurt us some in this aspect, but, this is my opinion, and others may disagree. Fortunately, we have enough land to rotate areas and burn about 3 years apart.

God Bless,
David B.

You know how people put pine straw in their flower beds? It helps with weed control and is pretty. You do NOT want weed control. Burning will eliminate the pine straw enabling weeds(aka as deer food and cover) to grow. Also pine straw generally makes for acidic soil. I would think disking between rows would more beneficial than mowing.

strip disking is a proven wildlife management practice in pine plantations. Mid rotation chemical release followed by strip disking is known to increase herbaceous layer.

Id start growing fruit tree's Peach tree's grow fast, also pear tree's!!

Nice. Gonna make a great fry!

Burn it!

This. You can initiate a lot of growth just by discing the ground.

Take a tractor with a bucket get someone in it take a pole saw and cut limbs off as high as you can this allows sunlight to reach the forest floor as increases growth , great for deer and turkeys .

If you own the property, I'd be careful if this is a lease

It's owned. I am open to all options, but I still don't think fire is an option as the guy who hunts turkey would probably have a fit.

I had already considered planting small greenfields in between the rows of pines. In some of the bottoms you can easily see 150 yards down a lane of pines from ridge top to ridge top, so I think a few long and skinny greenfields are in order. This is a great solution because every single logging landing is less than 20-30 yards off of a public road and I really did not want to put forth the effort to planting greenfields that poachers would be using while I wasn't there. I can plant a pine lane or three that is very secluded.

There is currently a decent amount of sunlight that hits the forest floor and I could literally spend as much time as I could give cutting limbs with a limb saw. I'll let the loggers do that next time they come back, which should be in about 4-5 years.

I can disk in between the pines as well, but I think I will need to bush hog first to destroy the volunteer hardwoods. Whats the verdict on bush hogging the old skidder roads? Leave the old sage grass and briars for cover or try to stimulate new growth with a bush hog or disk? The deer walk in between the pines currently and don't seem to use the old skidder roads at all.

Why would a turkey hunter not want you to burn? You may want to ask him, because I don't know of a single turkey hunter, who wouldn't want the burn done. I'll put it this way, If he wouldn't want atleast some burn, then he probably doesn't know what he is talking about.


Personally, I would cut + shaped greenfields in the pines, and burn sections of the pines on a rotation every few years. I'd try to leave as much thick stuff as possible, and let the burns grow for 3 or 4 years.

If I were turkey hunting it id be the one lighting the drip torch.

Fire would be my first choice.

Second choice would be strip discing in between rows, after a fall chemical application.

Planting strips in wheat, oats, and clover would be a supplement to strip discing.

I wish that feb. 11 someone would strike a match in the middle of our club and let'er burn !

X abazillion!
Strike a match. If he's mad at you, call me! I'll come turkey hunt it!

Bush hog down to a height of 12'-18'.

Lightly disc roadsides and cut rows with discs straight inline as to avoid deep harrowing. Stay off of hilly areas to avoid erosion.

Then, go to the local Co-Op and get a buggy of 17-17-17 w/crop mix and go over these same areas spreading it at a rate of approx. 150-200 lbs/acre.

Or, do as suggested and BURN!